02 Dec Preparing for Success in 2018 (3 Last-Minute Tips!)

It’s that time of year again when we’ve hopefully finished or maybe only just started preparing for success in 2018! One last hurrah before the holidays and we give ourselves some well-deserved time off.

Your products and/or services MAY be the most amazing thing in your industry right now. However, if you don’t have the right content marketing, customers aren’t going to know! A product’s marketing is only as good as the content and visuals. This includes product description, video, press release, article, blog or customer review.

You have control over every single one of these, and believe me even that last one! However, to get customer testimonials you need people to buy your products in the first place. For that to happen they need to find your product or service and be seriously convinced to buy! Preparing for success means planning to expect great results at the end for your customers and their review.

Marketing is essentially subliminal messaging. You may want to shout louder about your product than your competitor, but didn’t your parents teach you shouting rarely gets you anywhere? They may not be right about everything (we’ve seen the fashion in photos!), but when it comes to business, it can often be the case. Getting your content marketing right, targeting your ideal customers, and under-promising while over-delivering well that can take you a lot further than an all-singing, all-dancing advertisement.

There are so many platforms out there to market what you are selling. The one thing you will always need is words. Everything from your website, social media platforms, good old-fashioned flyers, and business cards relies on the written word. If you’re going to networking events and meetings you’re also going to need a sales pitch that doesn’t sound ‘salesy’. You might need a few sentences to concisely but powerfully get across how incredible your brand is or perhaps you need several thousand for a website.

Here are some tips to improve your content before the end of the year:

• Use a keyword planner. Find the most valuable keywords for your industry and products/service. You want to choose ones that have high search numbers but low usage frequency. So in other words, lots of potential customers are searching for the word or phrase but not many of your competitors have those particular ones on their website. Google has one if you have or set up a Gmail account.
• Rewrite your About Us page with less about you. Yes, I know it’s confusing but customers don’t care about your background or life experience. What they want to know is how you are going to change their life or business for the better.
• Be braver! Put yourself forward for press and awards regularly and when you have these accolades on your websites it builds trust and respect. In 2017, I was nominated for 3 awards and have been featured in various notable magazines, newspapers, and even on the radio. It instantly elevates me as an expert in my industry.

I can help develop your online presence through blogging, SEO, and PR. If you’re interested in discovering your story and how to pitch to journalists, check out my press section for ideas. Get in touch for a chat about what my content marketing services can do for you.

Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pexels